Espanyol 2-1 Atletico Madrid, La Liga 2025-26: Rojiblancos ‘Lacked Efficiency’ In Defeat, Says Diego Simeone

Diego Simeone blamed a lack of efficiency for Atletico Madrid's opening-day 2-1 defeat to Espanyol in LaLiga, though he remained optimistic.

Never before under Simeone had Atletico lost the first game of a LaLiga season during his tenure, but second-half goals from Miguel Rubio and Pere Milla turned things around for Espanyol after Julian Alvarez's 37th-minute opener.

In fact, it is the first time Atletico have lost on MD1 since a 3-0 defeat to Malaga in August 2009, ending an unbeaten streak of 15 such games (W8 D7).

Simeone's side have struggled on the road in 2025, with this their fourth loss in five away games (W1 D1) and have not won consecutive matches away from the Metropolitano this calendar year.

And though he was frustrated with the result, he believes there are positives to build on going forward.

"We lost, but I'm holding on to the positives that emerged," Simeone said after the match.

"We lacked efficiency and were more decisive in the good moments of the match. We could have scored after Julian, but football is wonderful; the opponent took advantage of the set-pieces.

"Except for the result, which is the most important thing, we had some good things. But we also needed to be more effective, which is necessary to compete.

"We managed the match in the best possible way until that goal. It had been good, and we wanted to bring in fresh players. I liked [Thiago] Almada, Alex [Baena], Johnny [Cardoso]... Nobody wants to win more than me, and we lost."

Atletico had largely been in control until Espanyol found their equaliser, including a dominant first half. However, they struggled in the final third after the break, failing to have a single shot on target.

Last season, they struggled to hold onto leads and lost control of games, with Pablo Barrios, who came on for the second half, lamenting the fact that those issues have continued.

"We didn't expect the game to slip away from us like that," he said. "Surely we have to improve something in defence.

"Both goals could have been avoided. I don't know what's missing. It's something that comes from last year. We start matches very well and then we sit back, and in the end, it slips away from us."